OpinionsBill Cosby was largely irrelevant in black America even before hissexual assault trial began

By Mark Anthony Neal June 17 at 6:23 PMMark Anthony Neal, a Duke University professor of African &African-American Studies and English, is the host of the “Left of Black”webcast and author of “Looking for Leroy: Illegible Black Masculinities.”

Bill Cosby was the product of an era when many prominent blacks engagedin what might be called a politics of representation: While the blackreligious left took to the streets to march and a younger generation ofactivists bided its time, Cosby waged his battles in fine suits, nicesweaters and impeccable diction. But Cosby’s schtick was as important asany Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee sit-in. He brought blackhumanity into white America’s living rooms through his appearances onvariety shows and the television series “I Spy” even as the brutalitydirected at black humanity was being broadcast on the nightly news inthose same living rooms. By the early 1970s, the kids were loving Cosby,too, courtesy of his brilliantly conceived “Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.”

The level of universal popularity that Cosby reached in the 1980s, viahis various platforms (including his role as a Jell-O Pudding Poppitchman) was not unprecedented — the Michaels Jackson and Jordan werelegitimate rivals in this regard. But no one else did it with Cosby’sgravitas. “The Cosby Show” was not just the highest-rated show ontelevision. Cosby and his doppelganger Cliff Huxtable were collectivelyAmerica’s — not simply black America’s — favorite dad.

Those times are long gone. Despite the hung jury in his sexual assaulttrial in Pennsylvania, America’s No. 1 Dad remains accused of sexoffenses (accusations that he has denied) and perhaps will always beremembered for this, however any retrial might play out.

But the onslaught of reporting of Cosby’s “final fall from grace” isclassic media hyperbole. This is not to deny that the sheer number ofhis accusers (and even if it were just one) made this a newsworthy case;we must continue to confront all incidences of sexual violence,regardless of the profile of the offender. Cosby, though, hasn’tmattered in the way he once did for at least a generation.

Cosby’s relevance to black America began to wane even as his televisionson Theo Huxtable was walking across stage at his college graduation. As“The Cosby Show” came to a close in the spring of 1992, Los Angeles wasafire over the acquittal of four police officers in the Rodney Kingbeating. Voices like Ice Cube and Tupac Shakur — symbolic sons whomCosby symbolically rejected during the eight-year “Cosby Show” run —would be far more relevant to young African Americans going forward.

There would still be a connection, however. To the extent that Cosby andhis family were subjected to the kind of random urban violence thatdefined so much of the lives of the black poor — when Cosby’s only son,Ennis, was killed — he was no longer above the realities of race, nomatter how famous and influential he was. The middle-class lives of theHuxtables be damned, he was one of us.

And perhaps that was the rub. With his infamous “pound cake speech”,Cosby seemed to turn on us by adopting a narrative from the right thatour struggles and the broader problems of the welfare state were rootedin a culture of defeatism rather than structures of inequality. WhenCosby seemed to legitimize the police shooting of unarmed blacks for acrime like stealing a pound cake, he came off as painfully out of touch.For the many who, years later, would be tweeting the hashtag#BlackLivesMatter, this was their most powerful memory of Cosby — and itwas there to be reawakened when comedian Hannibal Buress’s righteoustakedown set in motion this final chapter of Cosby’s public life.

That’s why the intense recent debates about Cosby, including areevaluation of his cultural and financial contributions — “The CosbyShow” was pulled for a time from syndication, Spelman Collegediscontinued an endowed professorship funded by Cosby and his wife,Camille — have seemed so out of line with his current level of relevance.

And therein lies one of the tragedies here. Cosby mattered so much, inpart, because his image of middle-class black respectability carriedmoral authority for whites, of all political persuasions, seeking tocompel less-fortunate blacks to fall in line and keep on the grind. Inthe past two years, it was as if the artifice of Bill Cosby had to berehabilitated solely for the purpose of tearing it down. And what hasbeen torn down in the process is not just Cosby the man but the verytruth of the representations of black excellence and aspiration thatCosby so dutifully invested in throughout his career.

Cosby hasn’t mattered since long before the movement for black livespicked up the baton of the black protest tradition and carried it ontonew moral ground. But in his reappearance as an old accused sexoffender, he has restarted battles we thought had already been safely won.

It seems so sad to me, that the portion,"And therein lies one of the tragedies here. Cosby mattered so much, inpart, because his image of middle-class black respectability carriedmoral authority for whites, of all political persuasions, seeking tocompel less-fortunate blacks to fall in line and keep on the grind."has been so discredited by the left, in wanting to instead claimvictimization and demand reparations.

Post by a425coupleOpinionsBill Cosby was largely irrelevant in black America even before hissexual assault trial beganBy Mark Anthony Neal June 17 at 6:23 PMMark Anthony Neal, a Duke University professor of African &African-American Studies and English, is the host of the “Left of Black”webcast and author of “Looking for Leroy: Illegible Black Masculinities.”Bill Cosby was the product of an era when many prominent blacks engagedIt seems so sad to me, that the portion,"And therein lies one of the tragedies here. Cosby mattered so much, inpart, because his image of middle-class black respectability carriedmoral authority for whites, of all political persuasions, seeking tocompel less-fortunate blacks to fall in line and keep on the grind."has been so discredited by the left, in wanting to instead claimvictimization and demand reparations.

Here are some of the comments:

newprogressive6:54 PM PDTThis column is racist at its core. It talks about blacks as if they wereall alike. The problem with Tupac, and "Good Times", and even "TheJeffersons" is that they assume that blacks are all uneducated and lowclase. Cosby portrayed Dr. Hustable as an educated erudite man,demanding success and intelligence from his children -- very middleclass. There are millions of middle class black people who couldidentify with Dr. Huxtable.As for Bill Cosby, he is an actor, not a social activist. To ever haveseen him as one was a big mistake. Same with Michael Jordan - basketballplayer.Blacks need to look to their community leaders, politicians, and blackhistorians for inspiration - not entertainers.

erbkon6:56 PM PDT"Cosby seemed to turn on us by adopting a narrative from the right thatour struggles and the broader problems of the welfare state were rootedin a culture of defeatism rather than structures of inequality."Why, why, why are humans so tempted to Dualism? Is it impossible forthe writer to see that it's not either /or, but rather both/and? Andmore besides just defeatism and the legacy of past structural inequalitysprinkled with a dose of still-living racists? I have know a number ofblack Americans born outside this country who a) were not inculcatedwith the culture of victimization so pervasive in our country, and b)impatient with those who were. YES, they encountered racism. And theiranswer to it was a defiant Scu Yu, not Poor Me. Pres. Obama, raisedlargely outside this culture, was also a beneficiary of this defiance,or perhaps I should call it blissful ignorance. I did not vote for him,and did not approve of most of his policies, but we were lucky in him inthat regard.